Here is an excerpt from the Happiness Module of my 28 Days Raw Program….

Day 17 Happiness Exercise / Motivational Reading

Cycles of Health and Love

Ah, the chicken and the egg!! Which comes first, healthy eating, healthy
exercise, or happiness? Well, as they are a cycle, you can actually
punch in at any point in the cycle!

You can start by eating healthy. Suddenly the pain in your knees is gone or you have more energy. You can exercise again. You get happy! So you eat healthier, exercise more, get happier, etc…

Or you can start by exercising. Suddenly the life energy is flowing
through you again. You naturally make better food choices to
support that life energy. The result is happiness, then better food
choices, then more exercise, and the cycle is moving again…

Or you might start by finding yourself happy. You enjoy this happiness and
let it dictate better food choices. This leads to exercise, which leads
to more happiness, which leads to better food choices, and you are up, up,
and away!

And then suddenly you find something has shifted. You suddenly
love exercise, because now you really want to live. And so
eating well becomes easy. And so, you find you are happy. And it is a
beautiful upward spiral that leads to life more abundantly!

the HEALTH Cycle:

1. Eating Healthy
2. Exercising
3. Happiness

It is like a flywheel. It is very heavy to start pushing it, almost
impossible to move it. But you keep pushing, and pushing, and after a
very long hard time of exertion the wheel is now moving, and because it
is so heavy, it gains momentum and starts spinning faster and faster,
and carried forth by its own weight, you don’t even have to touch it
any more, and it is going in perpetual motion.

Likewise it is difficult to start a healthy lifestyle. The flywheel is heavy with bad
habits, negative emotions, weight, and inertia. But you keep fighting
that good fight. You don’t give up. You keep trying. You try different things, new
things, and then you have it! You get that momentum going. Slowly at
first. It just gives you enough energy to try a little harder. And then
you make that breakthrough, and you know you can do it! And scary
though it is, it is happening, and gathering momentum, and a life of
its own!

Embrace life! Do not shrink away in fear of it. Things will start
happening. Your dreams will start coming true. Doors
will start opening. Carrying excess weight is a way for us to retire
from life for a while. Releasing the weight will also entail a return
to life! It is about so much more than just releasing the weight. It is
about love. Loving yourself and your fellow-humans. This too is a
cycle, that will go on simultaneously with the above cycle….

Amazingly, I can go from feeling stressed, anxious, depressed, confused and overwhelmed to feeling blissful and peaceful within the first 12 hours of transitioning to a 100% raw vegan diet!

Although I think therapy and treatment can be important if you have mental health issues, if you are not able to afford such, a raw vegan diet can be a good temporary solution for nearly instant relief.

To go raw safely and easily, see my next program which is starting on December 4th at http://28daysRaw.com

1. A balanced raw vegan diet is low in calories and high in nutrients: AKA nutrient dense.

Nutrientdensity means that there are a high number of nutrients per calorie. This is what you find in vegetables, especially dark leafy greens but also to some extent in fruits, nuts and seeds.

Studies on rats showed that decreasing their caloric intake by one third increased their lifespan by one third. This study gave birth to the popular Calorie Restriction Diet. Many people on the CR diet end up on a raw vegan diet in their quest for high nutrient density foods.

On the other end of the spectrum you have foods with low nutritional value foods that are high in calories and low in nutrients. These are packaged and processed foods, high in chemical flavorings and preservatives, sugars and sodium. They are often quite addictive. And purposely so. Why else would people eat them? A diet comprised mainly of such processed and packaged foods, AKA the Standard American Diet (SAD) seems to result in The Big Three killers in our society of excess: heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

A balanced raw vegan diet can nourish you with a minimum of calories. And of course cutting calories helps you to release weight. I like to say release weight instead of lose weight because it frames it in a more positive vocabulary. To lose something has usually a negative association.

The fiber, vitamins, nutrients, antioxidants and water content in plant-based foods are combative of The Big Three killers. They are also highly conducive to weight release and contribute to overall health, vitality and well being.

By eliminating Animal products you reduce the toxin load usually ingested by your body so your body doesn’t have to work as hard to digest its food. You reduce inflammation caused by toxins in the SAD diet. And you avoid ingesting the harmful fats in animal products. There is far less clean up that has to be done in the body after a plant-based meal then after a meat-based meal. So you don’t use up your body’s resources. Your organs get a lot more rest. Plant-based foods are digested more quickly and so they are a more efficient fuel source for your body.

3. Being a Raw Vegan is a lifestyle rather than a diet. Going Raw, although it may initially be attempted as a temporary cleanse or challenge, often becomes a lifestyle. You feel so good, the food tastes fresh and delicious, and the diet is really easy to stick to because you look and feel so much better incredibly quickly. So you get an almost instant momentum. Adopting a raw vegan lifestyle means that your weight release is permanent rather than temporary.

Is your relationship with food dysfunctional? Are you in a bad relationship with food? Is it causing you stress and pain? Like any relationship, it takes work. If it’s time for you to hit the re-set button on this primary relationship, try my 21 Day Raw Cleanse!It starts this coming Monday. You’ll download a series of menu plans, each with a set of shopping lists and complete directions for preparing every meal of the day.

I despise early holiday advertising as much as anyone. And here it is not even October so what am I doing talking about my holiday programs schedule? Well, it’s because I usually run my 21 and 28 Days Raw Programs back to back and most people buy the 2-Program Special so they can do the two programs consecutively. But in order to facilitate a Raw New Years Cleanse due to popular demand, I’ve had to switch around the order of the programs so that there will be two 21 Day Cleans sessions in a row, then the 28 Days Raw, and then the 21 Day New Years Cleanse.

The holiday season is the time of year when the programs are very slow because most people do not want to do a cleanse or necessarily stick to their Raw vegan diets during the holidays. But for those who do want to or need to stay raw, the programs become even more important at this time of year, for the support and social interaction they provide.

Although usually my 28 and 21 Days Raw Programs run continuously back-to-back all year long for ongoing raw support, I have a notable change in the schedule due to the holidays this year.

Monday November 13th 2017 – Additional 21 Day Raw Thanksgiving Cleanse (where I would usually start a 28 Day Program, I will be holding another 21 Day Cleanse instead which will include Thanksgiving for those who may want to cleanse during Thanksgiving instead of doing the traditional feasting. A raw feast is usually offered as an alternate menu plan for that last Thursday in November. But that is actually the water fasting day, so not a good day to feast on. So those who want a Raw Thanksgiving feast need to sign up for The Thanksgiving Raw Rumpus at http://RawRumpus.com, which will include the Raw Thanksgiving Feast this year)

Monday December 4th, 2017 – The 28 Day Raw Advent Holiday Program. This will be the normal 28 Days Raw Program but since it spans almost all of advent (December 4th-31st) and both Christmas and New Years Eve, it will be called the Advent or Holiday Session. http://28daysRaw.com

All of this means that the Raw New Years Cleanse will start on Monday January 1st, 2018! This should be a big group going raw together after the holidays, beginning on the most popular day of the year on which to start a new diet plan!

And what about The Raw Holiday Rumpus? (http://RawRumpus.com) This year there are 3 options for doing The 2 Week Raw Rumpus:

2. Mid-Holiday Rumpus (Mon Dec 4th – Sun Dec 17th) – as a cleanse between Thanksgiving and Christmas, a remedy for the effects of holiday feasting

3. Christmas Rumpus (Mon Dec 18th – Sun Dec 31st) – as a preparation for the 21 Day New Years Cleanse

The Raw Rumpus started as an alternative holiday tradition for Raw Vegans! It is a way to support each-other through the time of face-stuffing by joining up with like-minded people who prefer to eat light and bring the light inside during the darkest time of the year. The Rumpus is also a game, a Tournament, in which participants give themselves points for each raw meal and workout, and take some of their points away for going off the menu plan for instance. You can see the scoring system on the rumpus page at http://RawRumpus.com.

The Raw Cup Tournament part of The Rumpus is an alternative tradition, an event to remember! It’s a lot of fun, and people find it totally re-frames the way they look at their choices since they are part of a team! Your decisions during The Rumpus affect not only your own health, but your team’s chances of winning The Raw Cup! And if you think it sounds a little Harry Potter-esque, you’d be right. In fact, you even get to pick your House, the Super Strawberries, Grateful Grapes, Dangerous Dragonfruits, or Mad Mangos! The House of your choice is your team, and each team has a common room in the forum where you can support and encourage each other.

The best deal is The 2-Program Lifetime Membership Special at http://21daysRaw.com which allows you to do all of the Programs above that you wish as well as all the future 21 and 28 day Program sessions you’d like to participate in.

You might have seen raw food poster-girl Devon who released over 100 lbs. staying on the Programs for a year!

Here is the schedule of continuous back-to-back programs for ongoing raw support for 2018….

The Autumnal Equinox is when day and night are the same length, approximately September 21st – 23rd depending on the year. It is a good time to find a new balance in your life. The turning of the seasons has traditionally been a time for annual or seasonal fasting and cleansing.

You might not be interested in a long-term 100% raw vegan lifestyle. But you may still want to take advantage of the benefits of raw foods for healing and regenerating. Some people do this through eating 50% raw foods to 80% raw foods in their daily diet. This is called a “high raw” diet. Others do this through regular 2, 3, or 4 week up to 60 or 90 day raw food cleanses. They eat 100% raw for a time to heal and rejuvenate.

For instance, gorgeous 70+ year old model Sunny Griffin does an annual water fast to maintain her youthfulness. Raw Goddess Teresa Jordan does a 3-day water fast at the beginning of each season and still has a flat belly at age 60!

You have to know how to ease in and ease out of cleanses, fasts, and 100% raw diets in order to maintain the balance and homeostasis your body requires for optimum health. With over 23 years of experience with the raw vegan diet, I am able to guide you through my 21 day, 28 day, or 7-week combined sessions safely and with the greatest of ease and enjoyment so that you can thrive and emerge from your raw lifestyle experience with more energy, beauty, weight release, and healthfulness and less to no detox or discomfort.

This is accomplished through…

a balanced menu plan with recipes that are delicious and quick to make

handy shopping lists to make your life easier

daily workout schedule to prevent detox discomfort

daily inner work, happiness, and journaling exercises designed to help you avoid the emotional detox that often accompanies lifestyle changes

support from myself and your fellow participants through my exclusive online forum and daily emails as well as an optional Program Pal to help keep you accountable

For all the details and the incredible deal on the 2-Program Lifetime Membership Early Bird Special sign up before midnight tonight at http://28daysRaw.com!

On Sunday, SparkPeople.com had a great article called “7 Secrets to Outsmarting Your Supermarket”.

To summarize the article for you, supermarkets get you to spend more money and buy many more calories than you planned to by strategically positioning goodies in:

holiday displays

bulk discount item sales

end of aisle displays featuring items to combine for an easy recipe

food demos, free samples

treats in the check-out lanes

eye-level part of the shelves

the smells of freshly baked goods from the bakery

Although 7 different supermarket tactics are revealed, the way to outsmart them is singular: have a plan and stick to it!

It starts with a healthy menu plan which generates your shopping list. Now, all you have to do is stick to the shopping list and ignore the supermarket’s tempting offers unless it is for something on your list!

Focus instead on all the delicious healthy recipes you will be making!

If you’re interested in reading the whole original article you can see it here:

I found an interesting article about ways to prevent heart attack. But it is on 10 different pages with five ads on each page. So I’ve compiled the points here for you on one page.

1. Drink Wine And Eat Chocolate

2. Exercise And Supplement With L-Arginine

3. Drink More Water (5+ glasses a day)

4. Eat More Beans(or oranges, spinach, tomatoes, and Romaine lettuce)

5. Eat Berries

6. Eat A High Fiber Diet (Daily breakfast cereal)

7. Drink Tea

8. Eat Fish For Dinner Once A Week

9. Supplement With B Vitamins

10. Aim For Eight Hours Of Sleep At Night

Obviously, raw vegans will modify this list. We get enough anti-oxidants and fiber from fruit and veg without having to ingest wine, chocolate or breakfast cereal. The beans are for folate which is also plentiful in many fruit and veg, especially leafy greens. The fish is recommended for Omega 3 fatty acids also present in spinach, lettuce, chia seeds, walnuts and flax seeds.

If you’d like to see the original article with details about why these work and references to the scientific sources used to compile the list see:

I do agree with most of the opinion/assessments in this article, perhaps with the exception of the fruit and vegetable juices and green smoothies. Though I do agree these are best made at home to ensure they are made with fresh ingredients and nothing artificial added, I think some of the prepared brands are quite good and a nice option when you’re on the go. Read the ingredients to make sure no sugar or chemicals have been added.

I have long been skeptical of raw superfoods. They are a trendy way for people in the raw business to earn money through selling expensive products that have an eternal shelf life, but of course the real superfoods are fresh fruits and vegetables!

I don’t sell superfoods or supplements. I rely on the sales of my online menu plan programs which teach people how to go raw safely and easily. They provide ongoing raw lifestyle support including daily instructions and they come with a lifetime membership. There is never anything additional to buy from me. The shopping lists tell you exactly what you need to purchase to prepare the recipes in the menu plans using fruits and vegetables found in the produce section of your grocery store.

One of the upsides of dealing with chronic pain, is that when you come out of it you can really appreciate well-being!

I now have a consciousness that when I am not in pain I am experiencing well-being. What a wonderful state of grace!

My body feels good, no pain, and I feel no anxiety or worry or negative emotions at this time.

I use this time to smile, to smile deeply within my whole body into every cell of my being, soaking it with gratitude for this moment, feeling the sunshine, feeling all the potential of life and being alive in it.

I will write more soon about the last four months dealing with chronic pain from a rotator cuff injury and how I seem to have been healed by kiwi fruits!

You can’t just focus on what not to eat. That’s no way to go on a new diet or change your dietary lifestyle. Sure, you know what you want to stop eating. But what will you eat now?

That’s where your focus should be. It’s more exciting to focus on what to do than on what not to do.

I think that’s one reason why the raw vegan diet works very well for many people for weight release and healing.

There’s a focus on new recipes, learning the new art form of raw cuisine, purchasing fresh, beautiful, colorful, vibrant and exciting produce, plus there are recipes and menu plans and philosophies of eating raw to explore.

There’s a whole movement of raw vegans to gather education and support from, and if you’re a member of my raw programs there is a very focused new group of people going raw together to make the journey exciting, fun and supported.

At the very least if you’re planning on cutting out certain foods from your diet whether it be sugar, gluten, greens, or animal products it’s really helpful to have a plan for what you are going to eat to keep you from the natural tendency to slip back into your default habits.

It could be as simple as making a list of what you’re going to eat today or tomorrow or as comprehensive as signing up for an online diet program like 21 Day Raw Cleanse

My next 21 Day Raw Cleanse begins this coming Monday May 29th! The Early Bird Special is still on, offering a sweet deal on a lifetime of Raw Support until Friday at 21DaysRaw.com

There are free apps you can get that will chime every hour on the hour. (HourlyChime for instance).

These can remind you once an hour to take five minutes to do something that is healthy for yourself.

For example, take seven deep breaths, drink a glass of water with lemon, do 10 squats, or walk around the office for five minutes.

It could be the same thing each hour or you could rotate through different activities, whatever you feel is good for you, whatever you feel you really need or would be most helpful to your mental or physical health at the moment.

Take a break, take a time out, take a breather, regenerate yourself a little, invest a few moments in your health and well-being. Just take five.

It will add up to greater physical and mental health, both of which will just make you feel better and improve your quality of life.

This is a quick and easy way to start establishing healthy habits! Who knows where it could lead!

Q: I have some questions about baby food. I remember have e-mailed you years ago with some nursing questions for my first baby and your answer was very helpful back then. now have baby again and she is 8 months old, but am not sure what to do with food, so am still nursing her and have not given her solid food yet. don’t really remember exactly what I did with the first baby (she is now 7, so it is while ago), all I remember is that I messed up her teeth by not brushing them and giving her OJ and dates all the time. So definitely don’t want to make that mistake again! What is your experience with baby food? what is the right age to start solid food in your experience? and what foods are best? and how long did you nurse your kids? nursed my first kid 4 years and that seemed fine, except for her teeth ( think it was the not brushing combination with OJ and dates, but our dentist says it must have been the nursing at night don’t know about that, but did nurse her also during the night several times for 3 years…). Anyway, hope you are willing to share your experience about baby food, what to give, when to start and what to do with nursing with me. You must be an expert when see how healthy and strong your kids are!

Many blessings,

Arielle

A: Hi Arielle,

The baby food I made was like a green smoothie with less liquid so that it was thick enough to eat with a spoon.

For instance I would blend up:

– a quarter to half or even a whole avocado
– pitted plums (or any other fruit)
– a few leaves of spinach or a leaf or two of kale, collard greens or romaine lettuce for instance
– just a little orange juice, apple juice, coconut water or water for instance (2 tablespoons to start, adding more tablespoons as necessary to get the mixture to blend)

The avocado gives you the fats and makes it creamy. The fruit gives sweetness. The greens give incredible nutrients and minerals and a little protein too. And the liquid helps it blend up.

I think nursing for 3 years is a wonderful gift to give your child. That was the approximate length each of my kids got and we think it made them really warm people as well as giving them really strong immune systems.

It is hard on the teeth though. In retrospect I would brush their teeth in the mornings as well as before bed. Some like to wipe baby teeth with a wet cloth instead of brushing. I prefer toothbrushing with a mild toothpaste like Auromere or Tom’s. Sufficient greens should help keep teeth strong against cavities too.

Don’t brush teeth for an hour after drinking citrus as it temporarily loosens tooth enamel. But do brush after an hour. Drinking with a straw can help reduce damage from drinking citrus.

If you are experiencing any of these issues below then you may not be getting everything you need in the way of nutrients, balance, or pleasure from your current raw diet….

1. You worry constantly about how clean/fresh/pure your food is
2. You are always worrying about what to eat next
3. You are stressed about what to eat and what not to eat
4. You continue to restrict more and more foods within your raw food diet
5. You are losing too much weight on your raw food diet
6. You don’t enjoy your food, nothing tastes good
7. You are bored of your diet
8. Your hair is thinning
9. You are having trouble with your teeth
10. Your eyes look sunken
11. You skin looks grayish and dull
12. You feel stiff, aching, and old
13. You can’t stop craving salt, sugar, or cooked foods
14. You feel hungry all the time
15. You never feel satisfied or full
16. You get so excited about raw packaged, prepared, or restaurant foods that you eagerly and/or compulsively go over-budget on these items
17. You feel pain, numbness or tingling in your legs
18. Your tongue has developed ragged edges
19. You have sores in your mouth
20. You have no energy
21. Eating makes you bloat

There are many ways to get off-balance with a raw food diet. The good news is, that doesn’t mean you have to stop eating 100% raw! There is a way to be healthy and thrive long-term on a 100% raw food diet; by having a delicious, nutritionally balanced and easy to prepare raw diet that is doable on a daily basis in real life!

— The early bird special ends this Friday so I encourage you to sign up now at http://28daysRaw.com and treat yourself to an incredible experience with a really good deal, and enjoy all the benefits of a healthy raw vegan diet that you can do long-term without fear of deficiencies, cravings or imbalances!

Fellow vegetarians, not only don’t we live longer than meat-eaters, but we’re also the least popular kids on the block!

According to this article studies show that vegetarians do not live any longer than omnivores. Their only distinguishing characteristic is that people see them along with drug addicts in the most negative light.

On the bright side this article did not study raw vegans but admits that eating fresh fruits and vegetables can lengthen your lifespan.

The takeaway for me is no matter what your diet, eat more fresh fruits and vegetables for better health and longer life, but if you want friends don’t tell anyone you don’t eat meat.

Was studying about Process Mapping for business, and found this graphic (above) amongst the many examples of types of Process Maps. This one happens to be quite interesting as a way of looking at health and how our various habits influence each other and our weight/health and attitude!

So to put it in words, which are for me more influential than visuals, what I can learn from this map is that…

5. Our Sleep Habits affect our Attitude, Exercise Habits, Stress Levels and Weight/Health. (But why wouldn’t they affect our Eating Habits too? I suppose the map shows that they do so via affecting our Attitude. I can see how that could be true, especially if you equate attitude with the decision-making impairments that can accompany lack of sufficient sleep)

6. Weight Gain (Health) affects our Stress Levels and thereby our Exercise Habits and Attitude. and thereby everything else. You can see how this could be a cycle of Stress leading to Weight Gain leading to Stress leading to Weight Gain, etc… just for example.

The takeaway… Everything affects everything. Attitude, Exercise, Eating Habits, Sleep Habits and Stress Levels are all very important to your weight and health.

But where is the easiest place in the cycle for you to make changes?

Make a positive change in any one of these areas and you’ll start a positive upward spiral for your health.